


Tainted Cosmos

by natsunodilemma



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Angst with a Happy Ending, Forced Prostitution, Kidnapping, M/M, Songfic, Yoshiwara Lament AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:08:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24344791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natsunodilemma/pseuds/natsunodilemma
Summary: "The flower that glowed orange, my longing and my wish."In which a caged flower longs for freedom, dreaming of the day he may reunite with his long lost love.
Relationships: Hyoudou Juuza/Settsu Banri
Comments: 4
Kudos: 52





	Tainted Cosmos

**Author's Note:**

> i had an idea in the dead of night and wrote this instead of sleeping! yoshiwara lament is a really beautiful song and i think about it a lot

_“On the streets of Edo, the deep curtain of night falls down again.”_

The sun sets and Banri, a high ranking prostitute in the red light district, sighs to himself. “Time for that again...” He mutters, melancholy coloring his voice. An attendant slides a box of makeup and a mirror his way. He says his thanks, then lazily opens the box with his painted nails.

_“Sit before the mirror, smooth on the lipstick, satisfy them and accept them.”_

Positioning the mirror in front of himself, he stares at his face. It’s rather feminine, as he has long eyelashes, a slender nose and slim lips. His eyes are a deep blue, a rarity in the world he lives in. He hates it. If he wasn’t so pretty he wouldn’t be in this, living through this sad routine every day for who knows how long. Now isn’t the time to wallow in his sorrow. There’s a job that needs to be done. There’s a lifestyle he needs to continue if he wants to wake up the next morning.

_"The flower that glowed orange, my longing and my wish.”_

_It’s Autumn, everywhere in our village was colored orange, I was 10.  
“Settsu, look over here!”  
“Aah? What is it, Juza? Did you find another mouse?”  
“No, look!!”  
He showed me a single orange flower - A cosmo.  
“What’s up with this? It’s just a dumb flower..”  
He picked it out of the ground, ending its life instantly but I didn’t know or care. He tucked my hair behind my ear and put the flower, that dumb flower, in my hair.  
“It looks pretty in your hair.”  
I remember how my face heated up and how he laughed as I told him not to say things like that so casually. How he laughed as I bickered with him, his smile.  
That’s how I fell in love.  
I should have cherished those moments while I had them. I wanted to be with him more, I wanted him to call me pretty more than he did. I wish that moment could have lasted forever._

_“Over time, all I can see are blue flowers. Even so, I don't sell for cheap.”_

Banri sits silently as attendants dress him in all sorts of robes and fix his hair. His mind wanders back to when he was happy, but he can’t let himself stay there for long. He can’t put on a show while lamenting on the past. A voice calls out from the hall, saying that today’s customer is some high ranking soldier paying 100,000 yen for him tonight. He can’t help but chuckle to himself - That much money for a single night of fake love. It’s hilarious, pathetic even, but he won’t laugh about it to his customer. Any form of misbehavior could very well get him killed by the brothel owner. Thrown out on the streets to rot. Though, he wonders if his life is truly worth living from time to time. Maybe being killed would be better than living this life. 

_“In truth, I only wanted to bloom for one person ever—but fate stole my freedom, and the wheels merely kept turning.”_

_I want to see you again, Juza. I want to go back to the village we were raised in and stay with you forever. Please, save me. You have no idea what I would do to see your golden eyes again. If you’re out there, please hear my prayers and save me._

_“First a passion laced with lies, and then you will embrace me, won't you?”_

His usual routine of dining with the client, performing for them, then pleasuring them is at it’’s last stage. The soldier, whose name Banri won’t bother remembering after tonight, thrusts into him over and over, muttering all kinds of sweet words aimed at making Banri enjoy the moment more. They fail, but he can’t show it. “Please sir, won’t you kiss me more? You’re doing wonderfully... Filling me up.. I love it.” His words do wonders for his client, as he obliges, plunging in for a deep kiss. Banri purrs at the touch, then cries a fake cry as his false lover climaxes in him. He collapses on him, panting and exhausted. Banri’s disgusted. He hates the feeling of another man’s semen inside him. If his life wasn’t at stake, he’d push the soldier off and run. Run until he’s far, far away from that sinful place. But that’s just an unattainable dream. He does what he does with every other client and places his hand on the back of his head, stroking it ever so gently, thanking them for their service. “Thank you.. for pleasing me ever so kindly, sir.” 

_Go rot in hell, you fucking pig._

_“It's sad how much they responded for a show—today in Yoshiwara, it rains.”_

The client is gone and Banri waves in an attendant. She brings in a towel and a dish of sake, the latter which he swigs down with a speed not even an assassin could match. “Take me to the baths.” He says, laying a hand on the attendant’s shoulder. She does as she’s told and walks him to the bath. It’s empty as usual, and it fills Banri with relief. “Shall I aid you in washing yourself?” It’s her job to ask, but it still bothers him every time. “No thank you, I can bathe myself.” She stays as Banri removes all his robes and hairpins, carelessly discarding them on the tatami floor. He doesn’t say another word as he slips into the bath, shutting the door behind him harder than he’d intended.

_“Sir, won't you please purchase me?”_

_I dream of a day where he’ll come to this wretched place, recognize my hair he loved to play with and my fox-like face he loved to tease, and take me away. A dream is just a dream, though. Dreams don’t come true in this sick world._

_I was 15.  
I went to a nearby town to buy an umbrella for my mother as a birthday present. An umbrella of all things.  
I shouldn’t have gone alone, I didn’t know how to fight back.  
A woman with sly eyes said I was beautiful and asked if I was interested in earning some money. I needed more money for a nice umbrella for my mother and some sweets for Juza.  
I, a foolish, gullible boy, accepted her compliment and said yes. She led me to an area I didn’t know. A man was waiting there, a vile grin on his face.  
“Nee-san, I need to get back to my family in the village. I don’t need the money that badly, so can I go now?” She didn’t listen to me, just shoved me towards the man saying "Beautiful, isn't he? What a lucky find."  
The next moment I saw nothing but black.  
I woke up in an unfamiliar world and haven’t slept since._

_“Amongst the bloom of umbrellas, I turn wet. I am its rain”_

Tears flow down his cheeks, ruining his makeup as black and red run down his flawless skin, but it doesn’t matter. The only place he can display anything other than lust or obedience is where the filth and grime is washed off his tainted flesh. “Pitiful...”

_Get me out of here._

-

Weeks since that day turn to months. The cherry blossoms of Spring have been traded out for crimson maple leaves of Autumn. Banri sits alone in his room, gazing longingly out the window of his glorified cage, smoking a small pipe. His peace is interrupted by the owner sliding open the door, exclaiming something about a rich confectioner wanting to meet him. Yesterday was a tailor and today a confectioner, he really does meet the most peculiar people here. 

The attendants shuffle in, ready to prepare him for his meeting. He lets them do their usual ritual, robe upon robe, hairpin upon hairpin, pigment upon pigment. These ornaments would be viewed as extravagant and beautiful to anyone else, but they’re all so painfully drab to Banri. The same thing, every day. 

An attendant ushers him out and he follows. “What kind of sleazy pig will it be today..” He thinks. Another attendant opens the door to the room where the meeting will take place and 

_It's you._

“I want to buy him.” He slides a large bag full of money across the table, his golden eyes staring the brothel owner down. “That should be enough shouldn’t it?”

_You found me. You’re here to save me._

Banri stands in shock, unable to move, his crimson lips parted ever so slightly from gasping. The owner scolds him, urging him to hurry and go change into something he can leave the brothel in, but the shock keeps him in place. 

_You heard my pleas for help._

It’s only when the owner raises her hand to his face that he bows then quickly exits, pulling out hairpins as he runs back to his room. If he didn’t have some semblance of dignity, he’d throw off the robes on his way as well. 

_You’re really here._

The robes are on the floor as soon as he gets in to the room. He throws on a wonderfully plain kimono then rushes back out to the room, not bothering to wipe off his makeup.

_You have no idea how much I’ve yearned for my dream to finally come true._

“Hyodo..” mumbles, entering the room again. “I’ll be taking him now,” Juza says, standing up from the table. He pulls Banri in for a hug, the first hug they’ve shared in a decade. For the first time in ages, Banri melts into another’s embrace. He releases Banri and looks into those sapphire eyes he missed so dearly. “Let’s go home.” 

_Take me home._

Juza leads him out the brothel doors. Once outside, he takes his hands in his. “I’ve missed you so much, Banri.” Banri can’t hold his emotions back anymore, as he breaks down in tears. “I’ve missed you more than you could ever imagine.” He smiles a real, genuine smile. “You saved me. Thank you...” 

_I love you._

That day, the cosmos in the village were in full bloom.

**Author's Note:**

> a few extra details that i couldn't fit in the fic  
> -juza knew banri found out banri was there a while before after hearing someone at his shop talk about a man with sand colored hair and fox-like blue eyes in a brothel a few towns over. from that point until their reunion, he was incredibly stingy, saving every single coin to buy banri and get him out  
> -banri doesn't take anything except himself and the single kimono from the brothel. he never wants to remember that place again.  
> -they were childhood for 15 years and they're both 25 when they reunite  
> -they now live happily in a little town over, juza making sweets and giving banri a better life so he can forget those 10 years of pain. they are married.  
> -homophobia is not real.


End file.
